Throwing Clinic with John and Carlo

Throwing clinic Angling Escapes in partnership with Free Spirit.

Finally it was 11-7-20. After a contest was organized on facebook by Angling Escapes in which everyone could win a free day casting clinic, the 8 lucky winners (unfortunately 2 had canceled) with a big gray, behind their mouth caps, arrived neatly on time at the agreed location on the Wilhelmina canal in Tilburg.

The clinic was given by our team members Carlo Carspels and John Caeyers. Two “old hands” from the carp scene who, besides being members of the Angling Escapes team, are also associated with Free Spirit. And the combination of these toppers with the top rods from Free Spirit would try to get the utmost out of themselves and out of the rods. Under the motto that sometimes that extra 10 to 20 meters can make just the difference between catching and blanking, the participants had signed up.

Team Angling Escapes was actively present. Besides John and Carlo for the techniques, we had
Tino Spaandonk and Stein Verheggen who took care of the inner person, and we had Roel de Laat for the beautiful photos of this day.
The casting clinic started at 10:00 AM and lasted almost the entire day.

Photo: John and Carlo in the starting blocks

The day began with a general explanation about the different rods, various actions, and differences in casting weight.
In this case, John and Carlo brought the entire Free Spirit range, so everyone could actually test the difference.

Photo: Supreme concentration.

Team members Tino and Stein were busy preparing the inner man. And made sure there was food and drinks for everyone.

Photo: Team members Tino Spaandonk and Stein Verheggen shop at the supermarket.

John Caeyers took off to show, what was possible with Free Spirit’s rods. Often you are a little too scared. A good rod can take a lot more than you think. He also explained how to step in with the right foot and then pull the rod back to your chest as quickly as possible. The technique determines the distance, only then does strength come into play. After this the participants were divided into two groups so that everyone got enough personal attention.

The pressure was naturally quite high, as multiple spectators were watching how you were casting. But everyone was seriously working on their casting techniques.
There was one person who started with a distance of 60 meters and by the end of the day, this distance was no less than 100 to 110 meters! I’d say technique matters.

Photo: Seeing what everyone is up to!

Around noon, a break was taken with a sandwich and some drinks. After hard work, the inner person must also be strengthened. Now everyone had time to get to know each other a bit better. Furthermore, the conversations were also about the different locations of Angling Escapes. It’s always nice to be able to gather some extra information about this when part of the team is around.
After the break, everyone continued with heavier rods, allowing them to feel the difference in casting. Due to the somewhat stiffer rods, the difference in distances was now even more noticeable.

Team members of the Bikseboys and Angling Escapes, Tino and Stein, also made a cast.
To see if they were only present to provide food for the participants or if they could still cast a pretty impressive distance themselves…

The winner of this exciting day was Martijn van Raak (appropriate last name)! He and his fishing buddy Mark van Herk won a weekend to De Ganzenkuil! Congratulations men and thanks for coming.

It was a very fun, beautiful and educational day! Even the weather was beautiful! The feedback from the participants was so positive that Angling Escapes has promised us that more days like this will be organized. If you are interested let them know!

Finally, we would like to thank John and Carlo for the lessons, Tino and Stein for the inner care, Roel for the photos and all the participants for your positive comments and commitment on this beautiful day.

Below is an impression of the pitching clinic